Arborfield school construction costs rise to £37m

A new secondary school for 1,200 pupils is to cost almost £7m more than planned.

Parents had argued against the "bog standard" £30m design for the Arborfield site, as set down by the Department for Education (DfE).

Enhancements, including glazed stairwells, wider corridors, covered walkways and improved sports facilities will see costs rise to £36.9m.

Wokingham councillors agreed the extra funds at a council meeting on Thursday.

Councillor Charlotte Haitham Taylor, children's services chief, backed the move and said the money would provide things like double glazing and a full-size all-weather sports pitch, which were not included in the DfE design.

"It's the first new secondary school in our borough for over 60 years... it will be a fantastic building when it's built," she said.

Lloyd Watkins, chair of the Parents' Reference Group, said: "What happened was parents pushed very hard for Wokingham to do more than just the baseline of a bog standard school."

The school, which is being funded jointly by the council, DfE and Section 106 money from developers, is to be built on the site of an Army garrison.

It is scheduled to open in September 2016 when about 200 places will be available, while 1,200 pupils should be able to join the year after.

There is also an option to expand the site to 1,500 places in the future.

The council has also put aside £3.36m to adapt existing buildings into emergency classrooms in case the site is not ready on time.